Koihime Musou: Enshou's Forces

First of course, is Enshou herself (Last name: En, First name: Shou, True name: Reiha). Kono Kanami gives a positively stunning performance in her role as Enshou. As a VA who’s featured in over 175 titles such as Princess Waltz, Koi suru Otome to Shugo no Tate, as well as our very own Harem Party, and Mashou no Nie. Her high pitched laugh and performance really brings out the haughty nobility of Enshou’s character, and leaves one wanting to hear more.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! There is positively no way that one of the most disguished families in the three nations such as I could lose to a man like you!"

Enshou is a noble lady bursting with self-confidence. She prides herself on being descended from one of the one most distinguished dynastic lineages in China and looks down upon mere paupers. She’s slightly sadistic and loves other women, causing her to often be mistaken for or grouped together with Sousou–a fact she loathes with a passion as she makes a point of being confrontational towards Sousou.

“It positively pisses me off that others mistake me for that little wench!”

She deploys her army against Kazuto with the intention of one-upping Sousou by defeating him before Sousou even has the chance to satisfy her hatred of him.

Although Enshou never capitulates to Kazuto and never joins their camp, her dialogue-only grand adventure in search of the Southern Paradise proves to be one of the most hilarious arcs in Koihime Musou. With her arrogance and stupidity often landing her and her two retainers into precarious positions, it’s hard to find a story more amusing than hers.

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Next is Bunshuu, one of Enshou’s trusted Generals (Last Name: Bun, First name: Shuu, True name: Iishe). She is voiced by Murasakibana Sumire, none other than To Heart 2′s Komaki Ikuno, who also starred in World Love Order, Sharin no Kuni, and Devil on a G-String.

"Life is always about winning or losing, so you have to place your bets!"

Together along with her partner, Ganryou, Bunshuu faces off against Kazuto. Bunshuu is a tried and true gambler, her dream being to win big one day. An even bigger idiot than Enshou, her enthusiasm only causes everyone around her to wind up in trouble.

It was Bunshuu’s idea to seek out the Southern Paradise, even though they hadn’t a single clue where it could possibly be (aside from south.) Her reckless abandon and complete lack of forethought gets the three of them into troublesome predicaments almost as often as Enshou does.

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Last is the General Ganryou (Last name: Gan, First name: Ryou, True name: Toshi). She’s voiced by Aoimi Umi, a relatively new voice actress for whom Koihime Musou was one of her early works. She’s already gone on to feature in Muv Luv Altered Fable, Owarinaki Natsu Towa Naru Shirabe, several games by Liquid, as well as the leading role of Misaki Asakura in Idol Revolution.

"Ooh... That's why I told you to stop!"

Ganryou has been partners with Bunshuu since before the two of them met Enshou in the first place. The most level headed straight-man out of the three of them, she constantly finds herself being dragged around by Enshou’s whims and Bunshuu’s recklessness.

Were it not for Ganryou, the other two would probably be goners in no time, and she’s often found crying at the misfortune the two of them bring upon her. Though skilled in hand-to-hand combat, Ganryou uses a giant hammer because Bunshuu told her it was cooler. Ganryou puts up with Enshou’s whims and antics out of her appreciation to Enshou for taking both her and Bunshuu in under her wing, while it is her love for Bunshuu that keeps them together. Despite Enshou’s antagonism towards Sousou, Ganryou gets along quite well with Sousou’s general, Kakouen.

So the first thing that grabbed my attention about KM was Bunshuu. She was the first character I saw in a screenie that I thought looked good (take that in a sexual way or as a character design critique, both are valid).

Now I find out she’s played by the VA of a character in my own project, G-Senjou… it’s like it was fate. Minus Excalibur, of course.